By Neela Banerjee (NYT)

Published: December 3, 2004

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a watchdog group, filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court to block the Interior Department from using federal funds to refurbish 21 Roman Catholic churches in California. Congress recently allocated $10 million to restore the churches under the California Missions Preservation Act, and the money is being disbursed by the department. But Americans United argues that 19 of the 21 churches are active houses of worship, not museums, and as such their congregations should support them. Dan DuBray, an Interior Department spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit but said that ''protection of historic sites is clearly at the heart of the mission of the Department of the Interior, and a number of key sites are part of the spiritual heritage of the country.'' Neela Banerjee (NYT)